Nottingham City Council has today announced that the first of its leisure centres will reopen to the public from Monday.
The authority’s eight centres were forced to close in March ahead of the Government introducing strict Covid lockdown measures to slow the spread of the virus.
A huge amount of preparation has taken place over the past few months to get ready for reopening with a host of changes in place to ensure public safety.
The following centres will open again on Monday 27 July for gym, fitness classes and group cycling:
- Harvey Hadden Sports Village (Bilborough)
- Nottingham Tennis Centre (Lenton)
- Southglade Leisure Centre (Bestwood)
- Clifton Leisure Centre
Meanwhile, adult and junior play tennis coaching, social tennis and indoor tennis will restart at the tennis centre. Outdoor activity successfully opened up last month and has proved very popular.
The pool at Harvey Hadden will be the next to open on Monday 3 August for lane swimming, pool-based fitness classes and the restarting of swimming clubs.
The following Monday (10 August), swimming pools, including Swim Schools, will reopen at Clifton and Southglade, Harvey Hadden reopens Nottingham Swim School and disability tennis returns to the tennis centre.
Also opening their doors to the public that day will be the council’s remaining four leisure centres, Djanogly Leisure Centre (Hyson Green), John Carroll (Radford), Victoria Leisure Centre (city centre), and Ken Martin (Bulwell) – all for gym and fitness classes only.
Swim Schools will restart at remaining Active Nottingham pools on Saturday 15 August, while lane swimming, pool-based fitness classes and swimming clubs will follow from Monday 17 August.
There will be a strict focus at each centre to ensure clean and safe facilities which provide visitors with plenty of space to enjoy exercising.
Councillor Dave Trimble, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture at Nottingham City Council, said: “Closing all our leisure centres ahead of the national lockdown in March was a tough decision, but we did so for the health and safety of our customers and staff. We understand it has been a frustrating time for leisure centre users.
“As we move to reopen next week, the wellbeing of the public remains at the forefront of our decision-making. Fitness is an important aspect of wellbeing, and providing safe facilities for exercise is more important now than ever before.
“We look forward to welcoming people back on Monday into our adapted centres. We know many will share in our excitement to have their leisure centres back, as we adjust and develop our services for the post-lockdown world.”
Each centre has been adapted to meet all safety requirements of social distancing, maximum capacities and increased cleanliness. This has been a huge undertaking and is why the council has chosen to reopen in stages, starting with ‘dry activities’ at the city’s four largest facilities.
Visitors can expect some new rules when they return which have been introduced to ensure their safety. These include:
- Activities must be pre-booked through the app, online or by phone
- Changing rooms will be closed, so people will need to arrive ‘gym-ready’ and then shower at home afterwards
- Drinking-water dispensers will be switched off
- Activities and classes will have maximum capacities to allow for social distancing
- Deep-cleaning breaks will take place at the end of each session.
To better serve members not yet comfortable visiting centres, or who want to join a popular class, there is Active Nottingham Live – fitness classes streamed live. An introductory programme is already running, broadcast from Harvey Hadden via Zoom.
Visit activenottingham.com/live to see the class schedule and get involved for free.
Further information on the staged reopening and safety measures in place can be found at activenottingham.com/stay-safe
See the video guide to using our centres